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Reflections on the first week

I've been meaning to write a nice long post on what I have absorbed this week. It really has taken me this long to absorb all the things that have happened and I still don't think I can articulate clearly what I have gotten* out of this week.

I enjoyed all my classes this week. Education theory is such a new area for me to be studying, and it is really interesting the number of opinions and viewpoints that are brought to the discussion.

Some points from this week

• sock puppets are allowed to ask stupid questions
• classroom management is not just controlling disruptive students
• it's hard to do an ICT class when the fibre connection to the building is cut
• teaching necessitates bringing the subject down to the student's level and establishing what they already know. Try teaching area without first knowing basic maths operations or what a polygon is!

A final thought. There are so many people with interesting backgrounds in this course. Every single person I have talked to this week has surprised me.

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* yes, I know this is not a real word.

Waiting ...

I'm now all enrolled in the course. I know my timetable and roughly how things are going to go.

Especially of interest is the use of 'new' technology and social media - one of the assesment items involves publishing a blog and each of the units has a twitter stream. The uni also have the course plan published wiki-style and it has been an interesting exercise seeing the course material develop over the past few days. 

It's good to see a teaching institution using all the tools available!

At the whim of the university...

When I first decided to apply for the GradDip last year, I thought that the only option I had was to study by distance education. Luckily there are a few good providers in this country. I chose a university and went through the usual paperwork and forgot about it. Of course this was back in September and the offers would not be made until the following January. This date has now past, and I received a shiny offer letter in the mail.

Simple right? Not exactly.

Towards the end of last year, some of the teachers at the school I work at found out about my plans for this year and pointed out that the local uni offered the same course full time. I already knew this and I had thought that I could not work full time and study on campus at the same time. I was curious however, and I checked the website for the uni and found that the lessons would all be offered on the same day of the week. Brilliant. This would let me work 4 days and study for 1.

So I applied for that course too. This uni is not known for their organisational skills, and I still have not received an offer. A (several?) phone call/s to the student admin informed me that due to higher than normal applications, the offers had been delayed. I don't actually know when they are coming out.. but it should be within the next week. Definitely before O week starts in February.

I am currently enrolled in the distance education course, awaiting the letter from the local uni - and dreading the start of school, when I will have to go back to work - in a CONSTRUCTION zone- for the rest of the year.

Bring it on. This should be fun..

What have I let myself in for?

Ever since I decided to apply for the 'Graduate Diploma in Education', I've been wondering what on earth I am getting myself in for. Hopefully, since I already work in a school science environment, there shouldn't be too many surprises. Maybe.

This blog is the record of my journey from a self-confessed science geek to (at least) competent science teacher.  It will also be a test of my written communication skills.

So sit back, grab the popcorn. This could be a bumpy ride.